1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to door terminals for use with doors, such as sliding doors, folding doors, pivot-hung doors, and automatic doors. As is generally well-known in the art of doors and door terminals, it is often desirable to equip the door with some type of lock or locking mechanism to prevent unauthorized opening of the door in order to restrict access to a room or other building structure. The most commonly used system is a simple lock and key system where only users having a key matching the particular lock may have access to the room. However, it is often desirable to modify, replace, or add to such a simple system if a greater degree of security is required, such as in an office or government facility. For examples, a lock and key system could be used in conjuction with a security card.
Although a lock and key system is often an effective means to restrict access, it is not invulnerable to tampering by an unauthorized person desiring access to the restricted space. To further increase security, the lock system often can be equipped with further protection to help prevent tampering. By substantially enclosing the lock system in a housing or casing, for example, it is possible to substantially secure the lock system so that unauthorized persons cannot physically access the lock system without causing great damage or exerting considerable energy to gain access. By increasing the number of obstacles one must overcome to gain access to the locking mechanism, the chances of unauthorized access are correspondingly reduced.
In addition to increasing the overall security to a lock system at a door, safety of building occupants must also be maintained without sacrificing heightened security. Therefore, it can become necessary to equip the door terminal with a safety mechanism that can permit a user to bypass the locking system simply and quickly in case of an emergency. In an emergency situation, such as a fire in the building, occupants must be able to exit quickly, so a lock system that requires special access measures may endanger occupants by not allowing them to exit through the door if they do not have the required key or code. The door lock system should therefore be equipped with an emergency button or similar device that would bypass the security lock and permit opening of the door.
This invention is further based on a door terminal, which door terminal presents a housing in which are arranged a profile cylinder with an associated electronic circuit board, an audible alarm transmitter and/or visual display means, an emergency pushbutton in connection with a switch block to release a locking device, a protection pane covering the emergency pushbutton and a stationary attached mounting plate at which the housing is detachably mounted and securable by means of a anti-sabotage contact.
This invention is also based on a door terminal with an emergency pushbutton. The door terminal has.a profile cylinder with an associatedelectronic circuit arrangement, an audible alarm transmitter and/or visual display means and an emergency pushbutton in connection with a switch block to release a locking device are located within a housing of the door terminal, whereby a protection pane arranged in a covering frame covers the emergency pushbutton.
2. Background of the Invention
Such door terminals are employed as compact equipment in emergency exits in access controlled environments. Such a door terminal has been launched under the designation xe2x80x9cDORMA TLGxe2x80x9d. Such a door terminal type is known from German patent 196 52 348 A1. A stationary mounted housing in the area of the door comprises a profile cylinder, which serves to acknowledge an alarm and to deactivate/activate the door security system. Furthermore, light emitting diodes are integrated into the housing to display the operating condition xe2x80x9clocked/unlockedxe2x80x9d. Moreover the housing comprises an audible alarm transmitter and an emergency pushbutton together with a forced-opening switch block. The housing, attached at a mounting base solidly fastened to the wall, is secured by means of an anti-sabotage contact. The emergency pushbutton is protected against accidental operation by a shatterproof protection hood made from plastic material. In the event of danger after a powerful stroke, the spacers of the a protection hood will brake after a powerful stroke, whereby simultaneously the emergency pushbutton will be pushed down. The door can then be opened almost without any resistance, whereby an audible alarm signal will be released.
The door terminal slides onto the mounting base fixed to the wall and is fastened on the underside to the mounting base. Due to this fastening arrangement, a concealed in-wall mounting, especially with already existing system housings, is very difficult or not possible at all, as the required mounting space is not available. Basically, the accessibility from the underside of the housing is not particularly advantageous with regard to the installer""s position during installation. Another problem is that the electric subassemblies mounted in the terminal housing are wired with supply lines already existing on the construction site. For this reason, while executing installation work, the detached door terminal must be fixed or held with one hand, such that further operations can only be executed with the other hand. The existing anti-sabotage contact is arranged on a separate holding bracket and activated by means of the housing""s underside attachment. In this case, it is disadvantageous that the attachment of the housing can be dismounted with commercially available tools. The surrounding border of the mounting base requires an adaptation to the housing shape of the terminal, such that for different housing variants a corresponding amount of different mounting bases must be produced.
A door terminal is also known from Federal Republic of Germany patent No. 196 52 348 C2. An emergency pushbutton, as well as visual and audible display means, an electronic circuit arrangement, and an access control insert are located within its housing. The access control insert has been exchangeably executed in a modular manner with the intention to realize different access controlled systems while maintaining the other components. The emergency pushbutton is also covered by means of a shatterproof protection hood.
Moreover Federal Republic of Germany patent U.S. Pat. No. 94 08 898 U1 published a danger warning system presenting audible as well as visual display means. An internally located emergency pushbutton is protected against accidental operation by means of a glass pane, which must be manually destroyed to trigger an alarm signal.
In Federal Republic of Germany patent No. 38 41 099 C2 a door guard is described, where the housing covering the pushbutton has to be pivoted sideways in order to reach the emergency pushbutton. A covering pane prevents an abusive operation of the housing, which pane however has to be destroyed in the event of danger.
The operation of the emergency push-buttons requests, for all terminals known from the aforementioned state of the art, the exchange of the then destroyed cover, which requires, as a result, a corresponding reserve supply expense for new covers and maintenance work resulting therefrom. On the operator side, the maintenance expenditure caused by abusive operation especially is not desired. When utilizing glass covers instead of plastic covers, the hindrance level against abuse is certainly increased, but the basic problem however, i.e. exchanging the destroyed covers, remains unchanged. Nevertheless, practical experience and diverse guidelines recommend a cover for the emergency pushbutton to protect the alarm systems from accidental operation as much as possible.
One possible object of the invention is to develop a door terminal for use with doors, such as sliding doors, folding doors, pivot-hung doors, and automatic doors. Since it is often desirable to equip a door with some type of lock or locking mechanism to prevent unauthorized opening of the door in order to restrict access to a room or other building structure, means to prevent tampering of the lock system become necessary. A further object of the invention is to provide a housing or casing that substantially encloses the lock system to substantially secure the lock system so that unauthorized persons cannot physically access the lock system without causing great damage or exerting considerable energy to gain access.
In addition to increasing the overall security to a lock system at a door, it is an additional object of the invention to maintain safety of building occupants without sacrificing heightened security. A door terminal can be provided with a safety mechanism, such as a pushbutton, that can permit a user to bypass the locking system simply and quickly in case of an emergency to permit easy opening of the door.
Another object of the invention is therefore to further develop a door terminal having features as described above in the field of the invention, such that a simplified and universal installation is possible, whereby optionally an anti-sabotage protection must be realizable. The door terminal should be suitable as well for surface wall mounting as for concealed in-wall mounting.
An additional object of the invention is therefore to further develop a door terminal having features as described above in the field of the invention, such to achieve an optimized and demountable proof arrangement and conception of the protection pane, as to user-friendliness and user-safety, which on the operator side requires little maintenance and installation effort. The door terminal should be suitable as well for surface wall mounting as for concealed in-wall mounting.
One possible solution according to at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a door terminal for use with doors, which door terminal can be used to control access to an area. The door terminal can have means to prevent tampering of the lock system, such as a housing or casing that substantially encloses the lock system to substantially secure the lock system so that unauthorized persons cannot physically access the lock system without causing great damage or exerting considerable energy to gain access.
Another possible solution according to at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a door terminal with safety features. A door terminal can be provided with a safety mechanism, such as a pushbutton, that can permit a user to bypass the locking system simply and quickly in case of an emergency to permit easy opening of the door.
Another problem of the invention is solved in that the terminal housing is introduced into a pivot bearing, which is conformed at a mounting plate, and can be fixed by means of a lock on the front side at a stopper on the upper side of the mounting plate. Herewith a possibility is given to exclusively mount the terminal housing through accessibility from the front side with very little displacement. The installation is considerably simplified, whereby especially an installation in narrow mounting spaces is made possible. This mounting situation is particularly found when integrating a door terminal into already existing installation boxes or installation profiles or with a concealed in-wall mounting.
The given mounting space must simply exceed the external dimensions of the door terminal housing by the constructional depth of the pivot bearing. Due to the small dimensions of the pivot bearing, the clearance in mounting space works out at a range of less than a centimeter such that the front side appearance is not impeded by over-dimensioned gaps between the door terminal and the surrounding installation housing.
An anti-sabotage contact can be directly arranged on the circuit board and activated by the stopper of the mounting plate during installation of the housing. Separate holding brackets and supply lines for the anti-sabotage contact are preferably no longer required. The addition of an optional anti-sabotage contact to the door terminal merely requires an exchange of the circuit board, as, due to the stopper, the mounting plate is principally conceived for such expansion variant.
The mounting plate can be attached at the construction site, for example, at a wall, preferably screwed in, whereby mounting openings in the mounting plate are slightly arched in order to essentially guarantee a secure leaning on the wall principally with all installation variants, the housing can be initially moved in the direction of the wall onto the mounting plate, whereby the stopper and the pivot bearing serve as positioning help. Subsequently the housing can be pushed into a preferably C-shaped bearing shell of the pivot bearing, whereby the bearing shell""s free end can engage a slot of the housing. It is furthermore possible to swing open the housing for connection operations, whereby the pivot bearing and a web, cut free or separated by the slot, interact. Hereby executions including a vertically- or horizontally-oriented swivelling axis are conceivable. In case of a concealed in-wall mounting, due to the constructional depth of the door terminal, the pivot bearing must be executed in form of a swinging open and/or slide-out bearing variant. The positive engagement of the bearing shell into the slot, in connection with the leaning of the housing on the stopper, provides an essentially exact positioning of the housing with regard to the mounting plate. The exact positioning, particularly with regard to the stopper of the mounting plate, is imperatively required for a reliable functioning of the lock and of the optional anti-sabotage contact provided on the circuit board, which contact for example can be executed as micro switch or as reed contact. The anti-sabotage contact can trigger an alarm signal in the central control room or at the door terminal such that corresponding measures can be taken immediately.
Due to the lock, operable from the front side and the latch of which engages the stopper upon actuation, the housing is demountable-proof or unremovably fixed to the mounting plate, and due to the connection with the bearing shell engaging the housing, neither a horizontal nor a vertical movement of the housing with regard to the mounting plate is possible. The connections between the housing and the mounting plate are executed such that they are inaccessible from outside, and such that an abusive and destruction-free disassembly is excluded. Once the key has been removed, only authorized personnel can open the housing.
Authorized personnel can release the housing from the mounting plate to execute, for example, repair, maintenance or adaptation work. To unlatch the terminal, the lock is unlocked by means of the key and the housing is opened, whereby, in case of surface wall mounting, a web of the housing moves inside the bearing shell such that an articulated connection is built towards the mounting plate. By this articulated connection, the housing is positively held at the mounting plate and its underside sits on the wall. The installer can work with both his hands and in an advantageous working position. The work can be executed comfortably from above and existing electrical connections to wiring provided at the construction site are not subject to any substantial mechanical load.
The terminal housing can completely encompass the mounting plate. Therefore the mounting plate is invisibly arranged or arranged in concealed manner, such that for variants of the housing only one universal mounting plate is used, which has not to be adapted to the different housing""s form and color executions. All known locks can be suitable locking devices. Insert locks are particularly advantageous for their simple and robust functioning principle. Especially the simple de-installation and installation in case of a change in locking groups facilitates such remodeling.
Essentially all visual and all audible display components of the terminal can be centrally arranged in one module. Thus, altogether a compact and well-priced unit is conceived, which has been optimized with regard to utilization of the existing space in the housing of the door terminal.
A further problem of the invention is solved in that the emergency pushbutton of a door terminal can be covered by a covering frame equipped with an integral protection pane, which frame is preferably fastened to an associated mounting frame, whereby the protection pane is arranged in a flexible reception on the inside of the covering frame. In the event of an alarm, the protection pane can be non-destructively axially or rotatably removed with a defined operating force and a significant sensible snapping feeling. The emergency pushbutton can be operated via the protection pane at this time freely movable in the direction of operation. Therefore the protection pane may not be destroyed, and, later, maintenance personnel can slide the pane back into its original position. In case of operation, the protection pane can be guided inside the covering frame within a pane shaft and end stoppers prevent it from unwillingly falling out of the pane shaft when unfolding the covering frame. The flexible arrangement of the protection pane within the covering frame may be also realized with consideration to the aspect to reduce damage possibilities and also to reduce the danger of injury for the operator. Glass may be preferred to the variant of plastic material as the threatening danger of injury increases the hindrance level of abusive operation. Basically however, the danger of injury can be essentially excluded, since the protection pane can be executed with sufficient material strength, which, under normal operation conditions, will not substantially splinter.
Generally, essentially any material that is transparent and moreover not destroyed when operated can be used for this protection pane type. Suitable materials tested in practical operation are glass and plastic materials, which can be moreover simply equipped with printed operating instructions or other information.
On the operator side, the reuse of the protection pane and little maintenance effort can be advantageous. Furthermore, already existing systems can be easily retro-equipped with covering frames. The operating force can be adapted to most varying legal or fire protection regulations through different dimensioning of the holding arms executed at the inside of the covering frame.
The holding arms can be preferably cut free or separated at additional opposite longitudinal walls inside the covering frame. The holding arms can present respectively only one flexible resilient connection to the longitudinal wall and an inwardly directed camber. In the non-activated condition, the protection pane can be positioned between the camber and an inner edge of the covering frame. When pressure is exerted, the holding arms can spring outwardly and, over the camber, the protection pane can be pushed onto the emergency pushbutton. While the protection pane moves, the longitudinal walls can build a shaft wherein the protection pane is guided. End stoppers formed at the longitudinal walls limit the movement. Preferably, only maintenance personnel can put the protection pane back in place, as only they are able to unfold the covering frame, secured against abuse, from the mounting frame.
The mounting frame together with the covering frame can build a modular component, whereby the mounting frame is clipped with little pressure into the terminal housing. The clip connections are inaccessibly executed from outside, such that even with an opened covering frame the non-destructive disassembly is excluded. Basically the module is conceived such to be inserted into the housing of the door terminal, when turned by 180xc2x0 with regard to the flap direction of the covering frame. The electrical and mechanical components of the door terminal are executed to comply with such installation variant.
The unauthorized opening and respectively the removal of the covering frame can be rendered more difficult by using appropriate mechanical means and/or signalized by electrical means which trigger a silent alarm signal in the central control room or on the display module, such that corresponding measures can be taken immediately.
The unfolding covering frame can be pivotably articulately mounted on pivots of the mounting frame. Upon folding, apertures at the freely movable side of the covering frame get into contact with complementary snap hooks of the mounting frame, while at the articulated side of the covering frame protruding extensions engage the terminal housing on the inside. In addition to this, to prevent from abuse, a bolt, which is driven by the profile cylinder, blocks the covering frame. After an activation of the emergency pushbutton, only authorized personnel can reset this blocking. In connection with the protrusions on the articulated side, abusive and non-destructive detaching of the covering frame is thus excluded.
When the bolt is deactivated, an unintentional displacement of the covering frame is essentially prohibited thanks to the catching between the snap hook and the apertures, which moreover essentially guarantee an exact positioning of the covering frame with regard to the mounting frame.
This exact positioning is required for a reliable operation of an optional anti-sabotage contact provided on the circuit board, which contact can be executed for example as a microswitch or reed contact. The anti-sabotage contact is operated via a nose provided at the covering frame.
All visual display means can be likewise and thus centrally integrated into the module. The result is a compact and thus well-priced unit, essentially optimized with regard to utilization of the existing space in the housing of the door terminal. The arrangement of the display module at the emergency pushbutton provides, especially for the service personnel, the possibility to view at a glance all visual displays of the module and, additionally, at the same time, the lighting of the emergency pushbutton.
The exchangeability of the display module, for the producer and respectively for the supplier, reduces the effort to supply reserves and allows retrofitting a basic version at essentially the least possible expense. The complete wiring in the door terminal is executed as standard wiring, such that exchanging a module only requires substantially little adaptation. Moreover the door terminals can have a uniform presentation.
The above-discussed embodiments of the present invention will be described further herein below. When the word xe2x80x9cinventionxe2x80x9d is used in this specfication, the word xe2x80x9cinventionxe2x80x9d includes xe2x80x9cinventionsxe2x80x9d, that is the plural of xe2x80x9cinventionxe2x80x9d. By stating xe2x80x9cinventionxe2x80x9d, the Applicant does not in any way admit that the present application does not include more than one patentably and non-obviously distinct invention, and maintains that this application may include more than one patentably and non-obviously distinct invention. The Applicant hereby asserts that the disclosure of this application may include more than one invention, and, in the event that there is more than one invention, that these inventions may be patentable and non-obvious one with respect to the other.